


See You In Hell

by Thunderrrstruck



Series: Hell Bound [3]
Category: Psych (TV 2006), Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Demon Deals, Demons, Devil's Trap, Gen, Hints at Attraction, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mentioned Character Resurrection, Of the same character, don't you love it when Shawn metaphorically flies off the rails, pre-shules, so like it cancels each other out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26913739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderrrstruck/pseuds/Thunderrrstruck
Summary: Juliet tracks Shawn to an abandoned warehouse where it appears he has trapped a demon.
Relationships: Burton "Gus" Guster & Shawn Spencer, Juliet O'Hara & Shawn Spencer
Series: Hell Bound [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969825
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6
Collections: Whumptober





	See You In Hell

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Whumptober2020 day 7. Prompt: Support.
> 
> I have not look this over since writing, so forgive any grammatical errors and whatnot.

Juliet pulls into the parking lot, right next to the only car there, Shawn’s (Gus’) blue Toyota. It was hard to judge by the still scene alone how long Shawn had been here. Her heart fluttered with hope that it wasn’t too late, that he had only been here a few minutes. Juliet scrambled to assemble her toolkit – gun, holy water, and anti-possession charm – before sprinting across the asphalt and weeds and shouldering open the side door.

Inside, a ceiling rose to near cathedral heights. The perimeter was cluttered in pipes and neglected machinery, but the centre cleared way for a supernatural showdown to occur. Gun hefted, Juliet tread deeper into the room – an understatement of a word – until her eyes made out a devil’s trap through the darkness and above it a man with pure black eyes. Standing just six feet outside the circle with the demon was Shawn, his back to her and a blade dropping from her hand.

She knew he could hear her footsteps, so she didn’t bother with a greeting. She merely continued to walk forward, senses on high alert.

In a few more paces, she could make out the words being spoken.

“–couldn’t help yourself, could you,” the demon taunted. “Well, what do we do _now_? Can’t leave me in here.”

On certain people, cheeky snark might make her laugh (even if she pretended it didn't). The demon was not one of those people. From the few words she could comprehend, the urge to shoot was nearly overpowering. She held herself steady, however, knowing it would come to no use; the demon would live while its host would die on the spot. It was her duty as detective and hunter to protect the innocent; hosts, as victims of the possessor, were innocent.

“No, but we can exorcise you back to Hell,” Juliet said, coming to stand next to Shawn. The latter turned his head to catch her eye, but she barely broke concentration to return it.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed.

“Not now!” she whispered harshly in return. To the demon, she raised her voice to spit out, “See you in Hell.”

“Not if I see you first.” So smooth, so quick, with a twinkle in his eyes. (Or was that the meagre light from the street, filtering through the dirt-caked windows?)

Without further ado, Juliet began chanting in latin. The demon began to struggle, both against his body and the devil’s trap itself, but the detective-by-day pressed on. She lowered her firearm, now approaching the last few syllables of the entire spell.

One resounding consonant later, the demon tipped its body’s head back and opened its mouth as if to scream. Black smoke thundered out of its throat and swirled around the above the trap. Lightning crackled as the mass grew bigger, even ounce expelling from the poor host. Before long, the smoke sank towards and through the ground. In a glow of orange – hellfire, she tended to think – the demon’s essence was no more on Earth. Its vessel crumpled to the ground.

Juliet was the first at his side, calling on her first aid expertise. Only after half minute did she realise Shawn was still behind her. She glanced over her shoulder.

“Shawn?”

“I had that!” he whined. “C’mon, Jules.”

“You were just staring at him. There was a knife in your hand,” she relayed. “We don’t kill the hosts to kill the demons.”

“I wasn’t–” He cut himself off. His jaw hardened, face paled, and eyes dropped. She watched him turn and stalk for the door. Her heart squeezed.

That wasn’t Shawn. He’d be quipping all through the victory under regular demon-exorcism conditions. What the demon said floated back to her, settling nicely before her focus: _couldn’t help yourself, could you_.

“Oh, no, Shawn,” she muttered darkly.

Once the host was awake, Juliet linked an arm around his back and supported him to the end of the warehouse. Both their shoulders relaxed with the fresh, nighttime air. They hobbled to her car, where she ensured he could lean against the green metal on his own before telling him to wait and walking around the Blueberry to the driver’s open door.

“Did you or did you not make a deal?” she asked.

When Shawn’s only response was to keep looking forward, she repeated herself, this time with crossed arms and an urge (which she resisted) to kick at the car until he answered. She would never do that to Gus’ car, no matter where he was.

“I had to.”

She barely caught his reply due to the anger roaring in her ears.

“ _Had_ to.”

“You heard me,” Shawn said. _At least his sarcasm’s back_ , she thought despite the rest of his performance being decidedly un-Shawn-like. “I should have seen it coming. I didn’t, and now Gus is... because of _me_.”

Her blood immediately quelled, from raging rapids to a solemn churn.

“ _I_ pushed him into a life he didn’t want, it should’ve been _me_.”

As if someone dropped a blanket of rocks on her shoulders, she sank to the asphalt. It didn’t matter if it felt uncomfortable underneath her or if the ex-vessel of a demon was growing restless on the other side of the car. Juliet’s heart was being squeezed into silly putty, not just for Shawn but for somehow missing the fact that her friend had passed. What kind of person did that make her? How could she neglect a close friend like that, someone who had been like a brother to her (among her many biological ones)? Grief overpowered any sense of anger she wanted to feel for Shawn not even _telling_ her.

“I’m sorry. I feel terrible,” said Juliet. Shawn shifted a foot over the door’s threshold but didn’t reply. “How long do you have?”

“Two years.” Juliet opened her mouth to reply, but a spark ignited in his features. “But you know what? This is fine. This is _better_ than fine. Probably the best case scenario. It just means I have to live my life a little faster, that’s cool. Maybe I’ll go to Mexico, party hard, eat all the Tamales I want.–”

“Shawn.–”

“No, Jules, it’s fine!” For the first time that night, Shawn faced her with a smile. But it wasn’t a real smile. She could tell by the dull sheen of his eyes. As he climbed out of the car, she rose from her spot on the ground, noticing a falsehood in the energy he displayed. It was a far cry from the happy-go-lucky psychic she once knew. “You see, this is the best possible arrangement: Gus is back to the normal life he always wanted, and I’m one-hundred percent _free_ now. I can do whatever I want!”

Juliet bit her lip. There was one glaring fact he missed in all his ranting.

“I bet Hell’s a party, too. I can’t lose.”

“You can,” she said. How was she so unlucky that this day had gone from alright to the-absolute-worst in the span of one hour? She couldn’t lose Shawn, either. Not the man who made her laugh so easily or knew when to get her a coffee without even asking. She saw no way any ending of this could be positive. She loses a good friend either way. Two people are left to grieve. “Maybe we can, I don’t know, stop it somehow. Save both of you!”

“We can’t, Jules. We just have to accept it.”

“And you have, in just one hour,” she said pointedly.

Shawn cast his gaze around. “I don’t have all the details figured out, but when do I ever, right?” He let out a laugh. “Two years to do everything I ever wanted? Sure.”

Whether he was covering up the truth with forced optimism, it was hard to tell. Shawn might be able to find peace with the arrangement, but she struggled to accept it. She’s fight it if she had to, without or without his help. On the off chance there was a way to end a deal without losing the one benefit of Gus’ life, she’d find it.

Which brought her to the last problem weighing in her mind:

“You have to tell Gus.”

Watching Shawn’s reaction was just like watching all the air escape from a balloon.


End file.
